Your first smart strategy to eliminate debt is to divide and conquer. That’s right: treat this as if it’s war. Since you are declaring war on your debt, you will seek to eliminate the little guys first. Those little guys are the weakest and easiest to kick out of your life. Which are your smallest debts? Perhaps you have six credit cards, ranging in balance from three hundred up to eight thousand dollars. First you will go after the three hundred dollar debt. Each month, you will continue to pay whatever you have been paying before on each card, but the difference here is that any extra money, even a few dollars, which you’ve been sending off will now go to one place and only one place: the smallest card first. If you are only able to send off a couple of extra dollars each month, send it to the smallest card. Make it your focus , even your singleminded obsession, to pay off this smallest debt. Because this debt is small, relatively speaking, to the others, you will be able to pay it off much more quickly. Paying off debt gives a feeling of real accomplishment, and will help you to stay motivated. Once you’ve paid off the little guys , work your way up the ladder to the larger debts. As long as you stay focused, this will really help you to approach debt reduction in a smart and systematic manner.

The second smart strategy to kick your debt out of your life is control. Yes, unfortunately you are going to have to make a few sacrifices, like getting a debt consolidation loan, and they have to start here. From now on, you have to stop using credit cards. Is it difficult? Yes, in the beginning- but once you have started, you will find it hard to believe you once relied on credit cards so heavily. Cut the cards up, make them completely unavailable to you. When you are paying cash for everything, you will soon realize that your cash has a real value, and it will help you to learn restraint.

The third smart strategy is a simple one, but it will make you appreciate money in a new way. Since you are now using cash to pay for everything, it is time for money games. From now on, whenever you find yourself with a one dollar bill, stash it in a box or jar. You can play this game with ones, fives, or change as well. Let those dollars add up for a few months, and then take them out and count them. You might find there is far more than you’d hoped! Here is where debt reduction can be fun: you can keep half of this money game stash, to do whatever you want with. The other half, you need to apply towards the smallest debt right away. This way, you have both a sense of reward for paying down debt, as well as a feeling of fun since you get some “rainy day” spending money too.

Debt reduction might initially seem like a drag, and this is the reason so many people keep putting it off. Actually, with the help of these easy to follow tips, beating your debt down can be easy, trouble free, and even…a little fun!

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3. The Best Ways to Get Out of Debt
4. Best Ways to Get Out of Debt
5. How a Debt Consolidation Loan Will Help You Get Out of Debt